Show Reviews

This was a really great show, I watched on the free webcast. The sideshow debuts were fun (Tuesday is a bouncy favorite of mine, and Crazy Sometimes is tense and cool), Trey actually practiced Sugar Shack and was able to play the solo! Lots of songs got more mustard than usual, including nice first set jams in Free, Roggae, Maze, and 46 Days.

Set 2 DWD was a monster, and covered a lot of ground. Very nice jam, and then the bustout of one of my favorite ballads which I was so happy to hear. Waves is cut short but Ghost gets a very nice Waves-y jam (including Trey quoting Waves' lyrics when the jam drops back into Ghost). Wombat is surprising and goes further out of the box than I think I have heard Wombat go before.

Coil encore nuff said.

Trey minorly flubbed a few composed parts in Horn and Coil but that can't detract from an otherwise 5-star show with standout playing from all members and a generous helping of very engaging jams. Can't wait for Baker's Dozen!

First Phish show in Dayton. Heck, haven't even been in Dayton since I was very very young when my dad took me to a college basketball game. He's been gone now 20 years, so it was nice to reminisce about a time when he was around

I have a store in Columbus, so it's surprising I never made the trek in my adult life until now. Well worth the trip.

Tuesday perfect for this show. Small venue, smallest town on the tour. Peculiar instead of obvious always works under these circumstances.

Peaches. Oh delightful Peaches. So unassuming and yet delightful for those who appreciate it. Not the grittiest song in the Phish catalog but not everything can be steel cut oatmeal... Indeed

Up comes Free. We have liftoff! This was the most suitable choice for a payoff following the first 2 build up songs. Song selection is going very well thus far (a theme that would not cease as the night unfolds). Funkiness around 5 minutes in gives us some beautiful licks. I literally got lost in the funk section, in a groovy jive dancing kinda way. Always fun. This is my phavorite live Free and may be hard to top.

My first Roggae (and Peaches too, which is noteworthy but not as anticipated as getting a first Roggae). Phish continues on this unassuming road and letting the songs develop and transition naturally without any real start/stop. Roggae has a neat little exchange with Trey and Paige around the 6:30. By 7 minutes Mike joins the fun and we're all just locked in for the band showing how perfectly in sync they can be on this tune. A good version to call my first, and hoping for many more to come.

I laughed when they began Sugar Shack because I had a weird feeling it fit the neat funky vibe of this show. An underdog and not often appreciated because it really isn't the easiest song to play. And this is actually a well played version by and large. Some flubski's? Yes. Enough to castrate Troy and cut him from the Phish team? No.

Maze. My favorite show gave me my first Maze at Starlake 12. Kinda thought they might wait to play this tomorrow since it's the first show back in the burg area in 5 years since. Nonetheless, this is what this show needed to climb the glorious mountain. Like Free, this song gets a bit more interplay and stretching the atypical structure otherwise apparent in most renditions. Also my new phavorite Maze. It's worth multiple re listens and even gives Starlake 98 a run for its money.

Up next Horn. Like Sugar Shack, somewhat undervalued and oft criticized due to the difficult guitar technique and repeated key changes. I think Trey wanted to push through the song selection in set 1 rather than sufficing for safer material (Heavy Things comes to mind, which still has surprisingly not been played yet this tour). People will get down on the sour guitar spots. Not enough to kill the set nor the show.

Crazy Sometimes. Everybody gets a little Crazy Sometimes (I know.. I wake up everyday... Indeed). This is for everyone complaining that we're getting too many TAB songs this summer. HERE! A MIKE GORDON SONG! HAPPY?!? ::ahem:: .. particularly enjoy Fishman adding to the chorus with his raspy old man-esque quality. He's obviously good at getting a little Crazy Sometimes. Paige on the clav also is always welcome. The little jam from 6:10 thru the end is well done and adds to this nights fun eccentric mood.

46 Days was a welcome call here. I like this song near the end of the first set and this one delivers with a bit more S1 improv than usual. Called it within the first second of the guitar riff.

Jim in the S1 closer roll is a fine choice. This is my boss's phav Phish song. I had to text him to let him know I snagged it and thank him for having off the next day. :-)

Set 2 (as many others will attest), was fire blazing remarkableness... I'll take 6 songs and a Coil all day any day.

This DwD has been labeled by a few people as being a happy jam. And they're right!! I sure was happy with it! Did the 23 minutes seem fluffed or padded? Not one bit. Kuroda did much good things here and each member all had their chance to take charge and speak their mind. Worthy of many relistens this year or any.

Mountains in the M'fn Mist! I'm not trying to be overly positive with this review due to the attendance bias. Had I watched the "free" Webcast, I would've been just as pleased with the song selection. Crossed this one off my bucket list and can't hate on the beauty of this song. Again, underdog worthy of this spot and surrendered flow.

Waves was welcome. Nothing out of the ordinary and still well played. Not every waves is going to be the Limestone 03 version, but every Waves should either be monstrous or make way (or make waves for that matter) to welcome a > monster. In this case, the benefactor was...

GHOST. This version absolutely should not get lost behind the shows DwD or (eventual) Wombat. Ghost was not that happy kinda jam. It had sludge and grime and grit laden within. The beginning gives goosebumps and (again) doesn't take itself too serious to seem forced. The whole mood for this evening is abundantly clear by now. Explore > Marvel > WIN. (Side note: I've had 6 summers in a row with a Ghost. I like to think it's my dad giving me some peace in this hectic life. Someone I once knew and talk to, but whom I never boast.)

Wombat is hands down this songs best version. Vegas 14 version showed that this song could cash in on jam potential. This is the first one I know that went type 2 and gets a dose of frerociousness. 10 minutes in until the end is the real deal. I always scratched my head why people ever hated on Wombat. Hell, they've got Abe Vigoda in the lyrics for crying out loud. I'm hoping Wombat hating shall now cease. Thank you.

CDT brings this great set home in fine fashion not unlike Jim in set one. No mega jam here, but we had 3 this set already and it played its role well to remind us that Phish is Rock n Roll.

My first show (Blossom 10) had a Coil encore. I have not seen it since until Dayton, which is my 13th show. Lucky #13 the same year as BD. Paige playing the piano at the end was more than just the cherry on the top... we got sprinkles of love too.

This show was just what this tour needed it to be. Solid, unique and exploring new ground with a band ready to make a massive showing at MSG. The freebie Webcast was a good treat to encourage people to buy the Bakers Dozen value pack cast. Well worth it if you can't attend. I'd compare this show to Nashville 15. Tuesday/Webcast/under-the-radar/under promised and over delivered. On to Pittsburgh for more fun!!!!!

The Nutter Center, home to the famed 1997 funk-fest with the masterful first set. What was in store on this night, many years later? How would Phish start the show, set the narrative? Maybe a Tube or Ghost or something along those lines. Well, no, a Tuesday. I love this song—I love the studio version and all of the TAB performances. But Tuesday was, to say the least, unanticipated. Maybe that was the point. And so the first set commenced, as it typically does, with relatively short, structured songs, which at times seemed like they were going to take off (e.g. 46 Days), only to be abruptly curtailed. That being said, it was a highly enjoyable series of songs; everyone was having fun, dancing, embracing the night.

First sets are not always the best predictor of what is to come in the second half, especially for Phish 3.0. Nonetheless, it always creates a sense of unease: where is all of this going? Phish answered that question last night, as they often do, with an amazing, exploratory second set. It’s as if they are toying with us, daring us to doubt their chops, their ability to take songs to a blissful place. DWD quickly swirls into a wonderfully spacey jam. Page continues to be the 2017 MVP in my book, adding new layers and textures that are strikingly beautiful. Trey responds with elongated, trippy effects, taking us further out, until a new jam emerges; this is great music.

On paper the Mountains > Waves may arise suspicion regarding placement, but it really worked; the boys were in sync and the pairing felt like one seamless jam that eventually peaked at the end of Waves.

And then the Ghost. I thought the transition from Waves was haunting in all the right ways, which seemed only fitting for what ended up being a stellar Ghost. The interplay was incredible throughout. If that wasn’t enough, we were also treated to an extended rendition of Wombat--one of my favorite studio tracks from Fuego that always seemed to have the potential to be a catalyst for interesting jams. Bravo, Phish, bravo.

One of the best shows I've ever been to. Second set was amazing with a return after wombat of a dwd/ghost jam. Didn't think they could go there and put me on new footing at the nuthouse. The dwd jam blew me away and I watched the dynamics between the crowd and phish which kesey explained in kool aid acid test when the pranksters were watching the Beatles. The crowd was an inexhaustible engine of noise and energy and phish blew their lid off.

Wow... so I looked at the cumulative rating for this show, and frankly I am shocked! Putting the bottom line up front, this show was fantastic!

Okay, so now I take the time to gush. Let's break this thing down.

Set 1:

Tuesday - I am a huge TAB fanatic and I've been wanting Phish to do this one for forever. And it worked... very well. What a great, bouncing, party opener. They need to work on harmonies (miss the girls on this version), but hopefully this becomes a Phish regular.

Peaches - It's PEACHES!

Free - I sometimes get tired of Free, but they haven't been overplaying it and this one is a good one with a nice jam.

Roggae - Probably the best single song of the first half. This one is nice and fat and exploratory.

Sugar Shack - One of three newish ones for the show, and a good one at that. Lots of energy to dance to.

Maze - A nice, weird, exploratory, thick haze Maze.

Horn - Another one that doesn't always excite me, but here it just works. Well played and perfect as an interlude before...

Crazy Sometimes - A Mike song played for the first time by Phish. On the surface this thing is pretty sophomoric, but like many mike songs, once the groove hits, life is large! Want to hear them develop this number.

46 Days - A nice, semi-jammed funky version.

Runaway Jim - the first time to close in a very long time (2000 I think). A fun, rollicking romp to send everyone to the bathroom with a smile.

This is probably the first set that I've heard in many years! Just outstanding songs and performances.

Set 2:

DwD - Yes it meets the length criterion. No, it's not the space jam that Simple was... but this thing is multifaceted moving through some dissonance into pure blissful joy! Lots of it.

Mist - Sweet! A Trey ballad that never gets played and is really fun to break out of the moth balls. Such a nice surprise.

Waves - My only regret of this show is that this wasn't a 20 minute Waves a la Bethel SC, but it is tight and beautiful and Waves!

Ghost - This is a gorgeous Ghost... philthy and phunky to start, moving through the ether into pure hose... lots of it. The jarring return to Ghost proper at the end displays just how far away from ground zero we actually were!

Wombat - Everytime I hear this song it jars me to the bone. I mean it just doesn't flow. But this time, that was in a good way. Adding to the jarring from the end of Ghost. And it wasted no time going into delay loop jams and ending up in beautiful ambient space. The best Wombat I've heard yet.

CDT - Just a pure fun closer.

e: Coil - And it was a nice, unhurried, pretty Coil taboot.

To me this show is stupendous... how it is trending in the low 4's absolutely stuns me! Go back and listen people. I did!

Took advantage of the free live stream and watched with my dad, who had never seen phish before. He loves live music so of course he was super impressed. The band's music has certainly become more approachable over time. I am not one of those who longs to return to "the good old days." More than happy to hear a bunch of hits in the first half before my buzz kicks in and I am taken for a ride in the second half.

After opening with a completely appropriate and yet typically forgettable TAB song, the Peaches into Free, Roggae, and the Jim closer make for a very enjoyable set 1. Set 2 + the Coil encore are definitely worth a listen in their entirety. Killer Wombat on the loose! This pleasant surprise had me off the couch moovin and groovin.

CK5 in the house!!!! Love the new setup. Trippy ass stars.

Bottom line: this did not feel like a warm up show. It rekindled my hopes for MSG. Thinking now I should probably hold onto my 8/1 tickets (another Tuesday show). Maybe the boys will bust out something special for Jerry's 75th.

First set was good. They took their time with Runaway Jim and held some subtle notes.

Second set opens with a long Down with disease.. Creative and interesting -- a jam to remember along with the 2016 Riviera Maya jam.

Best transition into Ghost ever? You knew it was coming but had to keep waiting for it.. This song was at a slower pace for sure. Nice blues-y guitar work -- pretty unique for ghost. Toward the end of the song it did turn into a rocker.

Wombat was definitely phish 3.0, which I can't remember hearing in a wombat before. Transitioned quickly into some nice type i/ii territory, which was also a surprise for wombat. Then the pace heats up for the transition into.. what is it going to be?.. it's another type ii jam!

Then a straightforward Chalkdust brings us back to earth.

Squirming coil for the encore fit in well and brought closure. A nice and slow keyboard solo brought an end to the night.

The light show and camera angles for the free live webcast were pretty terrific.. I find the Youtube feed much better quality than the livephish app, especially when I play it through the playstation 3. Thanks Phish!

A phan pretty much has to be rarin' to go for the Baker's Dozen, at this point. Two more Phish debuts (Tuesday and Crazy Sometimes), and I liked one of them and didn't like the other, though Crazy Sometimes went into an interesting space towards the end--which was unfortunately ripcorded into 46 Days. Peaches is always a treat, Free and Roggae went a bit deep, and it's nice to see Runaway Jim close a set. This average-great first set might've been elevated somewhat by a deep Type-II jam or tighter execution of the compositions. As for the second set, some are halfway to the moon about it (maybe there by now), but to me, it's a great set (better than average-great, to me), but there's something holding me back from rating this show more highly. I rated it 3 out of 5 stars, which I'll try to explain... Down with Disease is long, for sure, but stays kind of close to home for my liking, and I'm on record as being worn out from its near-constant placement as the Set-II opener. Mountains in the Mist is good to see, and it's one of my favorite ballad-type Phish songs. Waves probably should've taken more playing time in the setlist, but then we wouldn't've gotten the very long and very slow (radio-unfriendly) Ghost that followed and the first really extended Wombat. Chalk Dust Torture seems almost like an afterthought, or a filler song, just for the sake of closing with a rocker; Waves could've jammed quite a bit more and then we'd've closed with that funky, extended Wombat, which would be unexpected and fresh. I can't argue against a The Squirming Coil encore, though. I think the second set was a bit slow in tempo, and there wasn't as much magic to it as we got in parts of the Chicago run. It's still really good Phish, but I think a bit more energy would've behoved this show well. I'm sure it'd've been different if I'd been there, but I'm certainly excited to see what'll go down in Pittsburgh!

I didn't mind set I: gimme a Peaches any day. Crazy Sometimes, 46 Days, AND Jim all had the potential to get further out there, and I wish at least one of them had.

Set II: MAAAAN, I just don't know what I think. I'm a sucker for jam-length; when I see longer song times on-paper, it's at least an inclination that they gave some jams time to develop into something "other-than". Last night, tho, I didn't hear the cohesive, full-band, definitive direction jams that I truly love about this band. There's certainly some good stuff here and I'd still rather hear them TRY to find different grooves for a long time vs. just ripcords and putting too many songs in a set, buuuuut....idk. Still not sure how I feel. Disease seemed like Trey hosing down(or trying to) for a LONG time, w/ the band just backing him up. Great to hear MITM. Ghost, again, seemed like more searching than finding, w/ Trey soloing. Wombat didn't impress; I'll take the 7/18/14 version over this. Still, taken as-a-whole, we've got some solid meat here. No idea where that leaves me....just my thoughts for now as I listen again at work.

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